Fast food workers around the country went on strike Thursday to push for a minimum wage increase, many of them calling for a "Fight for 15"--$15 an hour, about twice as much as current minimum wage.
One-day labor walkouts were planned in fast food restaurants in around 100 cities on Thursday, USA TODAY reported. The number of protesting fast food workers was reportedly the largest in United States history.
Dozens marched in Washington, D.C, carrying signs and singing "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, it's no fun, to survive, on low low low low pay."
The seeming grassroots movement, which also spread to other cities and towns across the country, was organized by an informal collective of labor advocates who are directed by the Service Employees International Union.
The workers say they are looking for a higher minimum wage, increased wages in the fast food industry and the right to unionize without repercussion.
Around 100 protestors in New York City marched on a McDonald's restaurant, blowing whistles, beating drums and chanting "We can't survive on $7.25."
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, which amounts to around $15,000 a year for full-time work, according to USA TODAY.
New York protestor Tyeisha Batts has been working at Burger King for about seven months earning minimum wage. The 27-year-old didn't meet with resistance when she decided to protest, but said her manager warned that workers who didn't come in on time Thursday would be turned away.
"My boss took me off the schedule because she knows I'm participating," Batts said.
Industry officials say that increasing wages would be difficult, especially since the fast food industry depends on low prices. Fast food employees are also frequently younger workers seeking part-time work, not a career.
"Fifteen dollars an hour is not a reasonable approach," said Justin Winslow, the Michigan Restaurant Association's vice president of government affairs.
Workers around the country also rallied back in August, asking for the same "living wage" of $15 an hour, according to Reuters.
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